The present invention relates to a sealing substrate, a method of fabricating the sealing substrate, a display device, and an electronic instrument.
A sealed structure is used for elements that use light-emitting materials and electrodes that are susceptible to the effects of moisture or oxygen, such as organic electroluminescent (EL) elements. A sealing substrate that is used in the art for sealing in an organic EL element is formed by carving out a glass substrate. The thickness of the glass substrate is determined in accordance with the depth of the carving. If a deep carving is formed in a thin glass substrate, the strength of the sealing substrate will be insufficient. To ensure strength, the sealing substrate is made thicker and heavier. It is possible to form a structure that has both a thick bonding layer with the organic EL panel and also a deep carving, but in such a case large amounts of moisture and oxygen permeate through the bonding layer.